Craig:
One of my former co-workers told me once that if you come all this way down to New Zealand and don’t see Milford Sound, you are a “bloody wanker.” So we went (as to not be “bloody wankers”). Milford Sound is on the list of World Heritage Sites, which basically means a bunch of guys and gals sat around a table and agreed that is was awesome. I agree with all those guys and gals too. Milford Sound is awesome! The only real way to see the sound is by boat so we booked a trip on a boat cruise around the sound as soon as possible. Milford has so many different things to offer. Thousand foot cliffs (home of the second tallest sea cliff in the world…second to one in Hawaii), incredible mountain scenery, glaciers, seals chilling on the rocks, waterfalls, rain forests, and sea caves are all seen on the two hour boat ride around the sound. The boat traverses the 14 km of the sound out to the open Tasman Sea where it turns around for dramatic views of the snow capped peaks lining the coastline. The weather cleared for us on the way back allowing some great pictures. Here are some of the better ones:
Eglinton Flat...on the way to Milford Sound.
Entrance to Milford Sound from the Tasman Sea
New Zealand Fur Seals basking in the sun in their natural habitat.
On the boat cruise back into Milford Sound.
Sterling Falls (also in Milford Sound)
The classic view of Milford Sound with Mitre Peak on the left.
Bridget enjoying a cup of hot "drinking chocolate" and the view on the ride back.
Bowen Falls (in Milford Sound)
I highly recommend going to Milford Sound some time in your life if presented with the chance. It is well worth the trouble of getting there.
Milford Sound however is only a small portion of a vast wilderness called Fiordland National Park. The park pretty much encompasses the entire southwest corner of the South Island. This park holds some the most fantastic mountain scenery I have ever seen. The weather however is a little more unpredictable so we were not able to do some of the stuff we wanted to. We did manage to go on a few short hikes in the park to waterfalls:
Swing bridge on the way to Lake Marian Falls.
Craig looking down at Lake Marian Falls.
View of Humbolt Falls from lookout point.
Visiting this part of the country only succeeded in making us want to come back. Two of the best hiking trails in the world are here (Milford and Routeburn Tracks) which we found out require booking WELL in advance. Better luck next time I guess. We will be back.
Next Stop: Queenstown (for the first blog post of 2010)
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